[_ck_]

You shouldn’t need a RewriteCond in that case, the RewriteRule can work without it if it’s simple enough.

If you are using the .htaccess inside of the /forum/ directory though, the above examples need to be trimmed without the forum/ part.

ie.

RewriteRule ^forum/faq

should actually be

RewriteRule ^faq

Only leave the forum/ part in there if you are using the .htaccess in the parent (webroot) folder.